• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.213-218
• /
• 2017

Most men infected with Trichomonas vaginalis are asymptomatic and can remain undiagnosed and untreated. This has been hypothesized to result in chronic persistent prostatic infection. Adhesion of the protozoan organisms to mucosal cells is considered a first and prerequisite step for T. vaginalis infection. Adhesion of T. vaginalis to prostate epithelial cells has not yet been observed; however, there are several reports about inflammation of prostate epithelial cells induced by T. vaginalis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether adhesion and cytotoxicity of T. vaginalis are involved in inflammation of prostate epithelial cells. When RWPE-1 cells were infected with T. vaginalis (1:0.4 or 1:4), adhesion of T. vaginalis continuously increased for 24 hr or 3 hr, respectively. The cytotoxicity of prostate epithelial cells infected with T. vaginalis (RWPE-1: T. vaginalis=1:0.4) increased at 9 hr; at an infection ratio of 1:4, cytotoxicity increased after 3 hr. When the RWPE-1 to T. vaginalis ratio was 1:0.4 or 1:4, production of IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, CCL2, and CXCL8 also increased. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was verified by measuring decreased E-cadherin and increased vimentin expression at 24 hr and 48 hr. Taken together, the results indicate that T. vaginalis adhered to prostate epithelial cells, causing cytotoxicity, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and EMT. Our findings suggest for the first time that T. vaginalis may induce inflammation via adhesion to normal prostate epithelial cells.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.661-670
• /
• 2018

Fimasartan, a new angiotensin II receptor antagonist, reduces myocyte damage and stabilizes atherosclerotic plaque through its anti-inflammatory effect in animal studies. We investigated the protective effects of pretreatment with fimasartan on ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in a mouse model of ischemic renal damage. C57BL/6 mice were pretreated with or without 5 (IR-F5) or 10 (IR-F10) mg/kg/day fimasartan for 3 days. Renal ischemia was induced by clamping bilateral renal vascular pedicles for 30 min. Histology, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and apoptosis assays were evaluated 24 h after IRI. Compared to the untreated group, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels were significantly lower in the IR-F10 group. IR-F10 kidneys showed less tubular necrosis and interstitial fibrosis than untreated kidneys. The expression of F4/80, a macrophage infiltration marker, and tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$, decreased in the IR-F10 group. High-dose fimasartan treatment attenuated the upregulation of $TNF-{\alpha}$, interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$, and IL-6 in ischemic kidneys. Fewer TUNEL positive cells were observed in IR-F10 compared to control mice. Fimasartan caused a significant decrease in caspase-3 activity and the level of Bax, and increased the Bcl-2 level. Fimasartan preserved renal function and tubular architecture from IRI in a mouse ischemic renal injury model. Fimasartan also attenuated upregulation of inflammatory cytokines and decreased apoptosis of renal tubular cells. Our results suggest that fimasartan inhibited the process of tubular injury by preventing apoptosis induced by the inflammatory pathway.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.77-86
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this paper is to review the relationship between organizational commitment, and voluntary turnover(intention to leave), and the moderating effects of personal factors(gender and occupation) on the relationship between organizational commitment and intention to leave. In order to verify and achieve the purposes mentioned above, questionnaire data are gathered and analysed from 458 employees in Daedeok Innopolis Venture Enterprises, Dae-jeon Metropolis, South Korea. Multiple regression and multiple hierarchical regression analysis are applied to test the proposed hypotheses: 1) the relationship between organizational commitment(affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment) and intention to leave, 2) the moderating effects of personal factors(gender and occupation) on the relationship between organizational commitment and intention to leave. Empirical survey's findings are as follows; First, affective commitment(AC) and continuance commitment(CC) are related negatively with intention to leave(IL), but normative commitment(NC) is not related significantly with IL. Second, gender positively moderates the relationship between affective commitment and intention to leave, and occupation negatively moderates the relationship between continuance commitment and intention to leave.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.109-115
• /
• 2016

Hataedock is a Korean medical treatment that administers herbal extracts orally to newborn infants. This method is used for alleviating harmful heat and excreting fetal wastes by meconium. The purpose of this study was to evaluate anti-inflammatory effect of Hataedock method with Douchi on 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced atopic dermatitis (AD). The 3-week-old NC/Nga mice were divided into 3 groups: the control group (Ctrl), the AD-induced group (AE), and the Hataedock-treated group (GT). Only the GT group was treated with Hataedock at the 3rd week. After 28 days from Hataedock treatment, we induced AD-like dermatitis to the AE and GT group by DNFB. The effects of Hataedock were evaluated by immunohistochemical method. In the epithelium, PKC-positive reaction of the GT group was decreased by 57%. In the dermal papillae, IL-4-positive reaction was decreased by 34%. In the dermis, the distribution of degranulated mast cells was decreased and substance P-positive reaction was decreased by 49%. In the skin tissue, edema was decreased and MMP-9-positive reaction was decreased by 71%. Tissue damage such as epithelial cell hyperplasia, infiltration of granulocyte and lymphocyte, and capillary distribution were also decreased. The Hataedock method with Douchi maintained skin barrier and inhibited skin-damaging factors via regulating Th2 differentiation. In conclusion, Hataedock has a potential for preventative treatment of AD. Further studies are necessary to investigate the immune-regulating mechanism and verify the safety and efficacy of the Hataedock method.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.24 no.7
• /
• pp.750-756
• /
• 2014

Citrus, yield of which is the highest among fruits produced in Korea, is extensively consumed for processed food items. The amount of by-products of citrus produced from the processing within a short period after the harvest is tremendous. These by-products are mostly dumped into land or neglected because of cost involved in processing them. The aim of the present study was to explore the usefulness of the by-products as a new material by examining the anti-inflammatory activity of fermented extracts of citrus peels. The peels of 'unshu' (Citrus unshiu) was fermented with Aspergillus niger and their extracts before or after fermentation were analyzed using HPLC. The analysis showed that neohesperidin level considerably increased and the two new compounds were synthesized after fermentation. The anti-inflammatory activity of the fermented extracts was examined on RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. Fermented unshu extracts significantly enhanced the decrease of nitric oxide (NO) production, iNOS and COX-2 expression, comparing with those of unfermented extracts. Also TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-6 production, both of which are pro-inflammatory cytokine, were more inhibited in fermented extracts. These results showed that the fermentation and promotion of the function of the by-products of citrus peels will help find a new application.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.172-184
• /
• 2024

Purpose: The original eCura system was designed to stratify the risk of lymph node metastasis (LNM) after endoscopic resection (ER) in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). We assessed the effectiveness of a modified eCura system for reflecting the characteristics of undifferentiated-type (UD)-EGC. Materials and Methods: Six hundred thirty-four patients who underwent non-curative ER for UD-EGC and received either additional surgery (radical surgery group; n=270) or no further treatment (no additional treatment group; n=364) from 18 institutions between 2005 and 2015 were retrospectively included in this study. The eCuraU system assigned 1 point each for tumors >20 mm in size, ulceration, positive vertical margin, and submucosal invasion <500 ㎛; 2 points for submucosal invasion ≥500 ㎛; and 3 points for lymphovascular invasion. Results: LNM rates in the radical surgery group were 1.1%, 5.4%, and 13.3% for the low-(0-1 point), intermediate- (2-3 points), and high-risk (4-8 points), respectively (P-fortrend<0.001). The eCuraU system showed a significantly higher probability of identifying patients with LNM as high-risk than the eCura system (66.7% vs. 22.2%; McNemar P<0.001). In the no additional treatment group, overall survival (93.4%, 87.2%, and 67.6% at 5 years) and cancer-specific survival (99.6%, 98.9%, and 92.9% at 5 years) differed significantly among the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk categories, respectively (both P<0.001). In the high-risk category, surgery outperformed no treatment in terms of overall mortality (hazard ratio, 3.26; P=0.015). Conclusions: The eCuraU system stratified the risk of LNM in patients with UD-EGC after ER. It is strongly recommended that high-risk patients undergo additional surgery.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.536-542
• /
• 2007

Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder, involving several organs. Inflammation in the disease is thought to be mediated by cytokines derived from T-helper type 1 (Th1) lymphocytes. Although the exact pathogenesis for BD is not completely understood, it has been suggested that the disease is triggered in genetically susceptible individuals by environmental factors, such as microbial agents. It is noted that multiple genes, including MHC (major histocompatibility complex) and non-MHC genes, are implicated in the pathogenesis of BD. This study tries to determine whether HLA-B51, IL-18, SLC11A1 and TNF-α polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to Behcet's disease in Koreans. As a results, HLA-B51 was a genetic factor with the strongest association with BD. But it is still uncertain whether this HLA molecule is directly involved in the pathogenesis of BD. Although the IL-18 gene polymorphisms were not associated with a susceptibility to BD in the Korean population, the patients carrying the GG genotype at position 137 had a higher risk of developing the ocular lesions. This study suggests that the allele 3 and the genotype allele 3 / allele 3 of 5'-promoter (GT)n polymorphism in the SLC11A1 gene may have a protective effect for the development of BD in the Korean population. There were no evidences for genetic association conferred by the TNF-α gene with respect to susceptibility to BD.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.95-101
• /
• 2003

Objective : To determine the clinical and bacteriologic efficacy and safety of Cefdinir in acute pharyngitis and pharyngotonsillitis caused by group A beta hemolytic streptococci in pediatric patients. Methods : Children aged 3 through 12 years who visited the hospitals enrolled in this study with signs and symptoms of pharyngitis or pharyngotonsillitis since May to December 2002, were taken throat culture and given Cefdinir(12 mg/kg/day, in three divided doses) for 7 days. Two hundred thirty five patients were enrolled and 90 patients who showed positive culture results were followed up for the signs and symptoms during the treatment to determine clinical efficacy. Follow-up culture were done at the end of the study and bacteriologic efficacy was determined Results : Ninety out of 235 patients who visited the hospitals with the signs and symptoms of pharyngitis showed positive growth on throat culture. Seventy nine patients were clinically and microbiologically assessable. The bacteriologic eradication rates of S. pyogenes were 100% in all the children treated with Cefdinir. Clinical cure rates were not different between less than 7 days-treated group(75%) and just 7 days-treated group(98.6%)(P=0.077). Two patients reported adverse reaction during Cefdinir treatment. Antimicrobial sensitivity of Cefdinir against S. pyogenes was 100% with range of MIC being less than 0.5 ${\mu}g/mL$. Conclusion : It seems that Cefdinir is one of reliable and well-tolerated drugs for the treatment of group A beta hemolytic streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis in children. It needs to be investigated short term efficacy in terms of improving drug compliance and impact of economic point of view. We can recognized that still high rate of the erythromycin resistant group A streptococci in our community should be monitored every year.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.569-579
• /
• 2019

In this study, the effect anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and liver protective activity was investigated via quick ultrasonic disintegration of pine pollen using a probe sonicator (PS) followed by the extraction with water, 70% ethanol, and 100% ethanol. The anti-inflammatory effect was studied by measuring the production of nitric oxide (NO) and cytokine in RAW264.7 cells induced with lipopolysaccharides (LPS). The cell toxicity was also checked with an 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and the experiment was conducted using non-toxic $100{\mu}g/mL$. The NO inhibition rate was highest in the 70% ethanol PS group at $85.99{\pm}0.12%$. Also an excellent efficiency was obtained from the results of interlukin-1 beta ($IL-1{\beta}$) and tumor necrosis factor alpha ($TNF-{\alpha}$), which is related to inflammation-related cytokine, with the respective inhibition rates of 63 and 22%. To examine liver protective activity, HepG2 cells were treated with Taclin, and the generation of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was measured in the culture solution. From GOT and LDH generation results, the inhibition rates in the 70% ethanol PS group were 28% and 13%, respectively, which was higher compared to that of using negative control group. Our results suggest that pine pollen extracted in 70% ethanol using PS may be used to develop food products that have anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and liver protective effects.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.161-202
• /
• 2024

Backgrounds/Aims: Reported incidence of extrahepatic bile duct cancer is higher in Asians than in Western populations. Korea, in particular, is one of the countries with the highest incidence rates of extrahepatic bile duct cancer in the world. Although research and innovative therapeutic modalities for extrahepatic bile duct cancer are emerging, clinical guidelines are currently unavailable in Korea. The Korean Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery in collaboration with related societies (Korean Pancreatic and Biliary Surgery Society, Korean Society of Abdominal Radiology, Korean Society of Medical Oncology, Korean Society of Radiation Oncology, Korean Society of Pathologists, and Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine) decided to establish clinical guideline for extrahepatic bile duct cancer in June 2021. Methods: Contents of the guidelines were developed through subgroup meetings for each key question and a preliminary draft was finalized through a Clinical Guidelines Committee workshop. Results: In November 2021, the finalized draft was presented for public scrutiny during a formal hearing. Conclusions: The extrahepatic guideline committee believed that this guideline could be helpful in the treatment of patients.